FIVE ADDITIONAL SPEAKERS COVER MARS EXPLORATION, VR

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) is pleased to announce five new speakers for the 2017 D.I.C.E. Summit (#DICE2017), taking place Feb. 21-23 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. Speakers will examine various aspects that drive World Building – from building prosperous creative communities that welcome and nurture player communities to the many ways we chase new technologies that offer a glimpse of tomorrow, today.

Inspiration and Exploration

Science fiction artist Chesley Bonestell didn’t simply offer an imaginative vision of humanity’s future in space – he helped to create that future. Chesley’s collaboration with NASA rocketeer Wernher Von Braun convinced the public that expeditions to the moon and beyond were within our grasp. Dr. Jeff Norris, Mission Operations Innovation Lead, NASA JPL, challenges the D.I.C.E. community to follow in Chesley’s footsteps and use their medium to inspire a new course for space exploration. Presenting a collaboration on stage with Rob Cunningham and Aaron Kambeitz from Blackbird Interactive, they will share an artistic work that depicts a vision for space exploration through the medium of games.

Powering VR Worlds with Laughter

Justin Roiland, co-creator, writer and voice actor on Adult Swim's Rick & Morty, and Tanya Watson, former Epic Games executive producer, are taking the D.I.C.E. stage to chat about their approach to making memorable and humorous games for the VR world. What would that look like? What types of things would happen? What would be different about the development process to support it? How is it more engaging in VR? What experiences do they have to lend to its creation? Join Justin and Tanya as they paint that theoretical world along with the potential opportunity or VR alongside it's advantages and disadvantages.